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The Manhattan Project--2016 A to Z Theme

Always a work in progress--welcome to my blog...

Monday, May 9, 2016

A to Z Reflections Post (#atozchallenge) #BOTB Results

Of all blog events, #atozchallenge is the best by far! The 2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge was for me perhaps the best one yet. After seven years of doing this Challenge, the writing of the posts is much easier. My Manhattan Project theme was my favorite that I've done so far, something which probably made the writing easier and the month more fun. I'm pretty pleased with the way things turned out for me this year.

Oh sure, I could list all of the usual things that I've seen as problems in the past, but if you are really interested in those you can go back in my archives and read my past Reflections posts. A lot of those negatives still remain to be remedied. Likewise, you'll find positives enumerated in those older posts that still held true in this year's Challenge. I don't want this post to be a rerun or a rehashing of stuff I've said before. I'll just leave my view of 2016 as it having been a very good Challenge.

This year I found many exceptional themes presented and met more new bloggers that I've not come across in previous Challenges. As always, the A to Z Challenge is an amazing showcase of creativity and fine writing. So despite those smaller irritants that we find while making our way through the list, in the end I think the good outweighs any bad elements of A to Z. The Reflections posts that I've read already substantiate this positive view of A to Z.

My utmost thanks go to the incredible talent and diligence of the A to Z Team of co-hosts who expend a great deal of time and energy to make the April Challenge the wonderful event that it is. Special kudos are due to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the blogger extraordinaire who has participated in every Challenge so far and who devoted hours in managing the Linky List for us. Also I am deeply grateful to Heather M. Gardner for her very capable leadership of the A to Z Team this year. We all appreciate the artistic talents of Jeremy Hawkins who provided the artwork and graphics used to promote the Challenge and identify participants.

Every Team co-host (names can be found at a-to-zchallenge.com) and the other assistance from each co-host support team (list found here) contributed time, effort, and talent to make the 2016 Challenge a success. I hope you will stop by all of their blogs to say hello and thank them for what they put into A to Z this time around.

And finally, thanks to all who participated as well as those who watched from the sidelines faithfully reading and commenting on our posts, providing that much needed encouragement that we all need to keep us in the blogging game. This blogging community is the best in the world because it involves the whole world. A to Z is a blogging phenomena!

If you have a Reflections post ready or you would like to write one, please visit the A to Z Challenge Blog to sign up. Be sure to read the directions before adding your link to the list! Battle of the Bands Results

For my most recent Battle of the Bands I wound up my A to Z Manhattan inspired theme by using Leon Russell's song "Manhattan Island Serenade". Since I figured Leon's original version was not all that well known, I put it up against a version renamed "Oude Maasweg" by the Dutch band The Amazing Stroopwafels. Their version begins with Russell's English lyrics and ends with additional verses in Dutch. If you missed this Battle and would like a listen to the versions you can find it here.

The Dutch version by the Stroopwafels took an amazing lead from the very start. Though Leon Russell made a valiant effort to catch up, the Stroopwafels retained their lead throughout the contest. This was surprising to me since I had figured that the majority of voters would go with Leon Russell's original version. However, some were not familiar with Russell's version and the Stroopwafels swayed voters with their harmonies, smoother sound, and the guitar solo in the break. This is what won me over as well, putting my vote with the majority who voted for The Amazing Stroopwafels. Another surprising outcome in Battle of the Bands.

Final Vote Tally:

Amazing Stroopwafels 19Leon Russell 10

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Don't Miss the Next Battle!

My next Battle of the Bands post will appear this coming Sunday May 15th. This Battle might be my most controversial yet. The reactions might encompass a range including derision, appreciation, mirth, and perhaps even anger. The song will be from an album that I have enjoyed listening to over the past month and think is one of the better albums released in recent years. But what can I say other than, again, it all comes down to taste. I like what I like. I'll be offering a clue to the upcoming song with a post on Wednesday which will be part of my series on "Love and Ego". Hope you will join me for these upcoming posts.

Do you agree with my assessment of the 2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge? Would you consider yourself to be a Leon Russell fan? What do you think might be a highly controversial artist or music style for me to use in my upcoming Battle of the Bands match up?

A to Z is definitely a blogging phenomenon and we have you to thank for that, Lee, along with your co-hosts! ☺ Where else can you meet such a diverse group of bloggers from all over the world? Even though I was struggling, I'll definitely do it again next year.

Your BOTB posts are always enjoyable and unusual. One never knows what to expect. I like Leon Russell, but the Stroopwafels deserved the win, in my opinion.

STMcC, I was really surprised about how far behind Leon was in the voting. He can be a bit of acquired taste though. I didn't care for him when I first heard him and it took a while for me to appreciate his music. Great songwriting helps.

Your BOTB vote count surprises me, too. I voted for the Stroopwafels and I am not used to being on the winning side. :) The multi-talented Leon Russell deserves his props and I am happy to see that he collected a respectable number of votes.

I do like your thought about the problems from the challenge that seem to keep on from year to year. This was my 4th one and the complaints I had from year one I still have after this one was done (mainly how hard it is to leave comments on some people's blogs). I think if people follow the general guidelines of the challenge, they will have a successful challenge. I too picked up some new blogs to continue to read through the year, which is one of the reasons I do the challenge; otherwise I more than likely would not have found those particular blogs.

Thanks to you and all who put on the challenge and strive to keep it going.

Betty, due to the differences between blogging platforms I don't know that there is anything we at A to Z could do to fix the problems. Maybe we need to educate more about how to cross comment more easily.

I don't know about 'highly controversial' music for BOTB, but several punk rock bands covered songs. The Dickies did a really fast version of 'Paranoid' which I like better than Black Sabbath's. The Sex Pistols covered 'Roadrunner'.

Yay, the Stroopwafals won! I love the name!!And I totally agree with you assessment of the Challenge. It was indeed a grand event this year. Aside from the few gripes I had (which are common complaints from years past), it was an awesome A-Z. I'm trying to think of a theme that would be fun to do for next year and can't come up with anything yet. I think I might be a little pooped out in the idea department...Another great achievement Lee. Thanks for all your hard work.

Michele, Thank you--that Manhattan theme is an example of how an idea can just kind of hit you and fuel the imagination. You'll probably have the same thing happen to you. You've got a lot of months to think about it. "Manhattan" came to me at the beginning of January and was inspired by BOTB in that I wanted something that would all tie together easily.

Lee, I enjoyed your rear view perspective of the 2016 A2Z challenge. I think I'm guilty of rehashing the same things from year to year. Next time, I will try to model this post in things I learn next April. It's all a learning process and a fun one at that! I wish I had read more of your posts during April, but failed a lot of blogger buds in that attempt. I am going to take things easy and get posts caught up the coming months. I did do something right, though. My artist won this BoTB! Have a good week!

Arlee, you and all the co-hosts and helpers deserve a big Thank You for keeping the A to Z going! Connecting with new bloggers is one of the best parts of the experience, and it is part of the reason I will most likely participate again. The challenge was great this year!

This was my second year doing the challenge and I'll definitely be back for more. It's great fun and a wonderful way to meet other bloggers. Thanks to you and the team for organizing and managing this phenomenal event.

There is a certain amount of buzz and excitement in the airwaves during the challenge. I love being part of it. Thanks for starting it and keeping it going. You're a great writer/connector!Mary at Play off the Page

Arlee I had no idea you had juggling skills but should have guessed from your deft handling of the challenge. That's something I've been meaning to learn but am a complete klutz. Maybe someday.

Also was not aware of the BOTB aspect of your blog. This may have been done. If not, maybe fodder for a future battle?? http://www.musictimes.com/articles/8508/20140807/8-ring-fire-covers-ranked-alan-jackson-frank-zappa-blondie.htm

Congratulations on seven years of successful challenges. That, in an of itself, is praiseworthy. Despite a crazy month for myself, I had a successful challenge as well. I'm still out there visiting new blogs and already preparing for next year's challenge.

Thank you for starting this challenge, and keeping it running annually.

Arlee, I must firstly thank you and the team for hosting another fantastic A-Z. In my reflections I suggested that a category FF would be useful for flash fiction writers , and it has gone down a storm with those who have left comments. WR is such a wide remit that finding other FF writers is a bit hit and miss. Cathy Kennedy suggested I mention it to you, so now I have! Thanks again Arlee.

I just feel that we should all remember that the A to Z is a place to have fun! Learn about what others are writing, meet new people and don't stress about it. I enjoyed your Manahttan A to Z and I always feel like I am learning. I am not surprised by anything you pick for your Battle because you have such an eclectic taste which I like.

I love the A to Z Challenge, thanks so much for putting it all together. Overall, it is really a positive experience, and I'm surprised that so many people this year said they didn't bother commenting on any other blogs - that's the best part! The only thing that consistently bothers me is having to remove links from every comment - I get it, they want a return visit and a backlink but leaving your url in the box does that. Leaving links in the comment itself just looks spammy and has a negative effect on SEODebbie

Debbie thanks for mentioning the opposing view regarding links, as I am unclear about that as well. I've seen several bloggers complaining that commenters don't provide links, and that we should all have some sort of signature in our comments. My question has been: most blogs ask me for my name, my email, my website, and often my Twitter name before I can post a comment. Where is all that info going, if not to the blogger? I just didn't see the reason for duplication.

Lissa, I've seen a few complaining about that too. When you fill in those details, the person who's blog it is does see your email address and blog link and it is easy enough to just click on it there to make a return visit so I was quite confused that people complained about a lack of links. I never leave one because I don't want to look spammy to Google (or anyone else lol)

I love the AtoZ challenge. I had an enjoyable time even though I was stressed for parts of it because of my weekend get-away. I also enjoyed being a first time minion, though for various reasons, I felt I was very effective. As for my own reflection post, I finally have that posted as well as the results from my most recent BOTB. However, I have decided I'm going to sit out the next BOTB to work on some writing. Which I'll get right one once I've finished catching up on BOTB results and reflection post reading. By next week, I'll be free of blogging till June.

Well done on completing your alphabet challenge. It might have well been a better year of such a long, drawn-out challenge. This year, I didn't receive any emails from bloggers who were struggling and felt a lot of anxiety doing it. Yes, I've been, like always, discreetly helping out in the background.

Thanks for all of the hard work you put into the A-Z challenge. This was my third year participating and my first year coming up with and sticking to a theme. Doing that definitely made it more difficult, but I also enjoyed it more this year than I have any other year. I'm already looking forward to next year!

I don't think I read any of your posts on the Manhattan project, so I'll have to go back and read through those. It was hard finding time to visit so many blogs! And I know I missed a bunch! I guess that's what the Road Trip challenge is for. Looking forward to that! :)

Thank you Arlee for coming up with such an ingenious idea to get world wide engagement. It was a challenge but I wonder how wide my blog's reach was? Ive been commenting regularly and even posting regularly but seem to have missed somethings non somewhere. Please do let me know what I've done wrong . Linking ? Posting? Content? Thanks for your inputBellybytes@unishta fromMumbaiOnAHigh

Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

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A juggler of words and phrases. My main blog is Tossing It Out. The focus blog for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge can now be found at a-to-zchallenge.com where updates will be posted until the event in April begins.
Wrote By Rote is about memoir writing.
A Few Words is my Sunday contemplation blog.
A Faraway View is about dreams. Pick what you like or look at them all. I love blogging!